"We will make camp after we've reached the ground. We'll need to regain all of our strength and energy if we wish this quest to be successful." Thorin said to the company, "Nori, once we're there, get a fire going. Bombur, cook us something to eat."

His company responded with nodding and grumbling as they started towards the path. Aeldre was torn between responding to this or not. On one hand, it would be rude to not at least acknowledge his orders, but she seriously doubted that he at all cared about her opinion on any sort of matter, much less this. She shook that contemplative nonsense out of her head in a moment, turning to follow Fili as he went with the rest of the company.

The path wound down the side of the carrock, switching back and crossing itself the whole way down. The path was stone, crumbling and sliding away in some places. Carefully, Aeldre edged her way down behind the group, doing her best to stick to the cliffside behind her. The last thing she needed was to fall a hundred feet onto unforgiving stone. However, only a few yards down, her foot landed on a loose rock, and she felt her legs shoot from underneath her. The world pitched around her, her heart leaping into her throat, the fall leering before her eyes—

A pair of strong arms locked around her waist, hauling her away from the precipice. "Watch your step, Aeldre," a voice said into her ear. Fili's voice, a part of her mind supplied. Aeldre shivered at the sensation of his breath on her skin, and she eased herself away from him, embarrassment burning on her face, and the oddest sensation gripping her heart in an iron fist. "We wouldn't want you to injure yourself anymore," he added, a soft smile lighting his lips as she straightened her cloak out.

Aeldre hid her face slightly, clearing her throat and willing her heart to stop beating so cursedly fast. "I can take care of myself. Thank you." A pulsating pain ached from her chest, and she gently wrapped her arm around it as she held back a sigh. Sweet Valar!

Finally, the company reached the foot of their perch, wandering a few hundred yards into the forest. Nori immediately started on the fire, gathering fallen logs and branches and placing them in a pile. The other dwarf, Bombur, began putting together some sort of stew in a large cast-iron pot. Aeldre took the opportunity to ease herself to the ground, leaning against a tree a bit away from the company. All of her muscles throbbed. Her skin throbbed. Her head throbbed. Valar, every part of her ached. She allowed her eyes to slide closed, trying to even out her ragged breaths.

The sound of footsteps reopened her eyes, and she was somewhat surprised to look up and see that Fili had come to crouch beside her, an incredibly warm smile written across his face. Aeldre wanted to ask why he was there, why he seemed so determined to take care of her. But the words stuck in her throat, and instead, she let Fili speak.

"How are you holding up?"

Aeldre tore her gaze away from that smile, refusing to blush for such a stupid reason. "Truthfully, not very well. I think…" she winced as a sharp pain dug into her ribs. "I think I may have broken something. It's difficult to breathe… and my head..."

Fili's smile faded to concern, and all of the sudden he was lifting a hand towards her. Aeldre flinched back from this touch, and Fili hurried to explain himself. "I'd like to take a look at your wounds, if you would allow me."

He saw the hesitation written across Aeldre's face and sighed. "I'm no medic, of course, but trust me, I've seen plenty of wounds in my time. If these go untreated…" he didn't need to finish that for Aeldre to understand his point.

"Fine," she bit out.

He slid a bit closer, his eyes leaving her face to sweep over the rest of her. He reached out to move aside her cloak from around her, revealing the jagged wound on her arm. The bleeding had slowed slightly, but still her arm and hand were stained scarlet, the sleeve of her brown shirt likely ruined. With one last glance to her face, Fili secured her wrist in one hand, peeling back the sleeve from the wound with the other. Aeldre flinched as the dull throbbing of the wound sharpened into a shot of pain, up into her shoulder.

Fili's breath escaped in a hiss as he saw the cut properly. "This is bad. It'll need stitches, and soon. You'll bleed out."

Aeldre gritted her teeth. The dwarf was right. Didn't mean that she liked getting stitches any more though.

He set her arm carefully to the side, before hesitating. Aeldre noticed his eyes lingering on her arm, wrapped about her injured ribs, and far too suddenly, he gestured at her midsection, asking a bit sheepishly, "May I?"

Sighing as best as her ribs would let her, Aeldre lifted her arm away. Fili leaned in a bit closer, then his fingers were suddenly on the untucked edge of her tunic, lifting up—

Aeldre moved quickly, slapping his hand away, a blush flooding her cheeks. "Master Dwarf, I—"

Fili hushed her quickly, his bright blue eyes going wide. "I just need to see the skin!" his hands were up, as if in surrender, his cheeks going a bit red as well. "Bruising's the main thing I know to look for and…"

He waited for Aeldre's reply, his face turning increasingly redder in embarrassment. Aeldre grit her fists, her intellect and emotions arguing in her head. Finally, her intellect won out and she huffed, looking away, and leaving her side open. Fili seemed to take this as an "okay" seeing as he reached for her shirt again, gingerly lifting it up, only to expose her ribs. Based on his sigh, whatever he saw wasn't good news. She jerked slightly, as his calloused fingers brushed against her tender skin, sending pain and tingling sliding up her side. She was about to reprimand him, when he sat back up, letting her shirt fall back into place. "They're bruised very badly, at the very least. Possibly cracked."

Aeldre swore under her breath. That was just what she needed.

"Rest for now. I'll see what I can do in the way of healing. I can, at the very least, find you something to dull the pain."

Aeldre nodded slowly, mumbling out, "Thank you."

Fili was silent, and in a bit of curiosity she looked up, only to freeze. He was pinning her with the strangest of looks. It seemed dreamy and far away, especially paired with the wistful smile on his lips. At the same time though, it was incredibly intense, as if he was putting her features to memory. Her heart was thudding hard, her face feeling far too hot, and Valar, was she getting flustered by his attention? "Can I help you, Master Dwarf?"

Her words seemed to startle him out of whatever strange stupor he was in, and his smile grew, even as he shook his head, glancing away and lifting a hand to rub at the back of his neck. "Sorry, Milady. It's just[,](-)I hadn't, before now, had the chance to properly see your beauty."

Aeldre's eyes went wide at his forwardness, and she nearly choked on her own spit. She regained her composure as quickly as she could, trying to ignore the dopey absolutely stunning, an irritating part of her brain added grin on his face. "While I appreciate your help, that by no sense means that I have given you permission to mock me."

Fili's smile fell away, to be replaced by an entirely serious expression as he murmured, "I assure you, I was, by no means mocking you."

Valar. The way his voice had turned all soft and baritone, the way she could almost feel his breath on her skin, the way his gaze bored into her, taking in every inch of her face, every blink of her eyes, the way he said those words to make them somehow seem like the most personal, the most intimate thing ever to be said…She…she loathed it.

At least, that's what she convinced herself that curling warmth in her chest was.

"It is best, I think," she began, her voice unusually rough for some reason. "That you keep those thoughts to yourself then."

The intensity on Fili's face gave way to guilt, and that feeling flooded Aeldre's chest as well. Dammit, what was he doing to her? Whatever it was, it certainly had to stop soon, seeing as she just about melted as he smiled remorsefully. "I'm very sorry, Milady. I…I did not mean to make you uncomfortable…Perhaps…" whatever it was he was about to say, he stopped before it could come out of his mouth. "I'll go find water. For—for your wounds that is. I'm very sorry," he repeated, before practically leaping to his feet, and hurrying away from her.

Aeldre set her head back onto the tree behind her, trying not to squirm at the strange, fuzzy feelings invading her chest. This was all just too much! What was happening to her? She was a warrior-woman, not some village lass to be charmed by whatever young man or dwarf that came along.

Just as she had set to rationalizing these feelings, she noticed Fili's brother venturing through the crowded trees towards her. "Where is he going?" he asked, once in earshot.

The half-breed glanced up and cleared her throat sending those disturbing thoughts out of her head. "He said he's going to find water to clean my wounds."

He nodded. "I see," he gazed down and smiled a bright, sunny smile far too close to that of his brother, holding out a hand to shake. "My name is Kili, I'm Fili's younger brother."

She hesitated to take his hand, but did so anyway, out of politeness. There was no need to make more enemies than she already had. "I've… figured as much." She said.

When the handshake had ended, the silence following was more than a bit awkward. Finally, Kili spoke. "Do you mind if I sit next to you? I can always leave you alone, if that is what you want," he added quickly after a moment, running a hand through his hair. Aeldre was tempted to tell him to go, but what may have been guilt held her back, and she gave him permission to sit beside her. Kili seemed pleased at the invitation, and did so happily, but then the silence still hung between them, heavy and awkward. "Um… that's a nasty wound you got there on your arm." He mentioned motioning towards it.

Aeldre almost had forgotten that it was exposed, "Your brother said it needs stitches, but I doubt your medic would leap at the chance to help me."

Kili sighed, "Aye, dwarves don't exactly have a good connection with the elves. We're even worse with the elves of Mirkwood though."

Aeldre's heart stopped for a split second after the word 'Mirkwood' had spilled out of his mouth. "What… What is your quarrel with the woodland realm?"

"According to Thorin, brought our entire kingdom tumbling to the ground," Kili chuckled. Upon seeing that this brought no amusement from her, he continued, sobering. "Thorin told us the Elvenking went back on his word and abandoned the dwarves of Erebor after Smaug attacked. We were lost, wounded, hungry, and the Elvenking turned his back on us. In our time of need, they would not help us. Since then, Thorin and the dwarves have never trusted the elves."

Aeldre looked at Thorin, who was speaking to the tall dwarf and the kindly one with the snow-white beard. "…I suppose I understand that. You seem very familiar with Thorin. What is your relation to him?"

"He's my uncle," Aeldre's eyes went wide for a moment. "Our mother is Thorin's sister. He doesn't have children of his own, so Fili is the next heir to the throne."

This information hit her hard. The blonde dwarf, with his silly smiles, and stuttering words, the heir of a kingdom? "Are you…"

"Quite sure," Kili responded before she had finished the question, chuckling.

"He doesn't look it," Aeldre said to herself, frowning.

This drew a full laugh out of Kili, a deep-bellied, ringing sound. He had a good laugh. Perhaps his brother...Aeldre absolutely refused to continue that line of thought. "I'll have to tell him you said that!" Before Aeldre could comment on that, a thought occurred to him. "Oh, I have something that you seem to have forgotten back at the goblin cave." He took out graceful Elvish sword of Hadhafang from underneath his coat.

Aeldre gasped despite herself, "Hadhafang!"

Kili handed back her sword that she had unfortunately forgotten, her most precious possession that belonged to her sister, Arwen. Aeldre fought back a smile, running a finger down the still shining length of the blade. "I found it in the tunnels while we were escaping. I could not possibly leave it behind, not while it seemed too valuable." Aeldre raised the sword straight, letting the light run its shimmering fingers down the blade's curling etching. Pleasant memories flooded back, of Arwen, who she dearly missed so much. She smiled softly contentment settling in her chest like a cat in a sunbeam.

Kili had noticed how relieved she was to finally be reunited with her trusted sword. "That sword, it means something to you."

Aeldre sighed, "Yes. It belongs to a friend of mine. A very dear friend. She gave it to me temporarily, only, so that I will remember to come back to her and return it. It is…A promise or sorts, really."

She had noticed a smile had spread across his face, "It seems you and I have something in common." he drew out a small, dark stone carved with some sort of rune. "'Return to me,'" Kili told her. "That's what it says." She watched Fili's younger brother gazing the stone, memories shining out behind his gaze, "It was given to me by my mother so I can remember her promise."

Aeldre found herself smiling as she murmured, "That you would return to her."

Perhaps these dwarves weren't too different from elves as they thought.

Kili gave her the stone to let her see it closer, "She thinks I'm a reckless fool," He shrugged. "I don't see it."

Aeldre lowered her sword to the ground beside her and took the stone. She chuckled as she gazed at the smooth rune stone running a thumb over the carefully recessed lines, "Lord Elrond thought of me the same way."

"It seems we both have our protective family worrying about us."

Aeldre couldn't agree more. "Never let go of that promise," she told him, placing the stone back into his palm. "It could keep you from the very edge of death.

Kili nodded his head, tucking the stone safely away into his pocket. "Don't worry. Dying's not in my plans. I'm going to be king under the mountain! After Fili's gone, of course," he added hastily, before continuing in a lower, fakely conspiring voice. "Mysteriously. In the middle of the night. Leaving all of his inheritance to his younger brother who certainly had no part in planning his sudden death."

Aeldre smothered a snort of laughter as Bofur walked up to the two with a bowl of stew. "I hope I'm not interrupting." he said with a bit of a cheeky grin, "I bet you're hungry, Lady Aeldre." Bofur handed the bowl to her and she took it without thinking. "My name is Bofur." Seeing that she did not start on the meal immediately, the dwarf frowned. "Are you not a fond of dwarvish cuisine? You must be used to all the vegetables and dumplings back in Rivendell..."

"No, no, I'm sure this is lovely." Under Bofur's waiting gaze, she scooped a spoonful into her mouth. It burst across her tongue with much stronger and darker flavors than any Rivendell food. It warmed her gut well, though, and she could already feel some of her strength returning. She glanced up at Bofur, who seemed to be waiting for her criticism of his cooking. "It's not what I would usually eat, but it's good." He looked relieved to have someone, other than a dwarf, to actually enjoy his cooking.

"You know, it's a shame that you won't be staying with us for long after you've full recovered. It's interesting, having someone else, much less an elf, in the company," Bofur said.

Aeldre shrugged, correcting him, "Half elf," under her breath. After taking another sip of the stew, she stopped and thought for a moment. She couldn't understand why Fili, Kili, or Bofur were willingly helping her, or treating her as if she was their friend. Compared to all the looks and glares from the others… "Both of you and Fili… Why are all of you being so friendly with me?" she asked, "Don't you all hate my presence here?"

Kili chuckled, "Why would we? I don't really see why we should be angry at you for something your fifteenth cousin on the odd side of your family did. If I was judged like that, I don't know that anyone here would speak to me."

Bofur added, "Exactly! Besides, you shouldn't worry about the others. It may take a bit, but I'm sure they'll warm up to you a bit. Besides, if they never do, it's not like you'll have to deal with the lot of them for very long."

"Not that you will necessarily get booted out of the company as soon as you're well enough," Kili assured her. "Thorin may hate you now, but once you prove to him your worth here in the company, I think it'll change his mind, just how he did with Bilbo." Aeldre glanced over at the Hobbit, who was silently sitting beside a tree as he enjoyed the bright sky above him. "We all doubted his presence amongst the company, but by now, he's practically family." Aeldre wondered what would happen if Thorin actually trusted her. Would he treat her the same way he treated the Hobbit and his company? Would she be family to the group like Kili said about Bilbo?

After a while, Fili had returned from his search to find water. He seemed surprised to see Bofur and Kili there, conversing easily over her head. Fili shot her a slightly nervous smile, and she looked away, squashing away any odd feelings before they could start. "It would seem you've already befriended Fili and Bofur." He said quietly to Aeldre as Bofur and Kili argued about the plural form of the word "moose".

Aeldre bit her tongue against replying, so Fili crouched down next to her, pulling out his now full waterskin. "Sorry that took so long," he said a bit sheepishly. "I may be a brilliant fighter, but I never have had a wonderful sense of direction."

Aeldre raised a brow. "You were lost?"

"Just a bit," he admitted with a shrug, before properly sitting next to her.

Kili and Bofur just seemed to notice his presence, and Kili shot his brother a smile, while Bofur turned his attention to Aeldre, asking, "Would you like some more then?"

With a grateful nod toward the dwarf, she handed him the bowl, and he was off, whistling a jaunty tune.

Fili looked over at Kili, "do you mind fetching a thread and needle for Aeldre? And perhaps some numbing herbs? And more bandages?" His brother nodded his head and got up to fetch the necessary medical supplies. Fili smiled at Aeldre, as he drew out a roll of bandages. "Lucky I had these on hand, aye?" Aeldre remained silent, watching as he wet them, before lifting the fabric towards the scrapes across her forehead. She winced slightly at the cold feeling, but remained still as he gently wiped the dried blood off of her cheek. He set aside the now dirtied bandage, before wetting more, and setting to clean her arm. "I hope you're not afraid of needles, My Lady."

"I've had my experience with stitches. Not a very pleasant process to endure, " She replied, watching her lap.

"Aye, but I expect you'll manage."

Aeldre's lips were sealed as she sat while Fili treated her wounds. As she sat there in silence, watching his strong, calloused hands work so gently on her arm, numerous feelings began to fester in her chest. Guilt was a primary one. While some elves in Rivendell would disagree, she had actually received proper etiquette training, and she knew it was rude to have acted the way she had towards Fili. He had sacrificed his time, his safety all to protect her, and in response, she'd only been snippy. She had to summon up the very depths of her courage in order to speak.

"Master Dwarf," she said softly easily drawing his attention.

"Yes, My Lady?"

Her mouth went dry as his brilliant blue eyes locked onto hers, wrought with curiosity. She had to clear her throat slightly, pinching her thigh hard with her free hand, before she dared to try and speak. "I…I know that you didn't have to do all of this, back in the caves, and with Thorin, and now, but…" This was one of the moments when she wished that words came easily to her like they came to Elrond or Arwen. She was quite positive that she was making a fool of herself. "And honestly, I still don't really understand why you've done all of this, or why you seem to care so much about my welfare." Fili looked like he was about to interrupt, so Aeldre bit out, "But thank you." She shot him a slight smile, though she tried to avoid the capture of his gaze. "Thank you, Fili."

Slowly, a massive grin spread across his face, until he was practically beaming at her. "Like I said, Aeldre, I promised to help you. And when a son of Durin makes a promise, he keeps it."

Valar, some part of her hoped that he really was telling the truth.